Court Cases

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The ACLU of Rhode Island and the Rights of Candidates

In a democratic society, fair and impartial elections are an essential aspect of liberty. Any attempt to restrict the ability of people to run for office not only directly impairs the rights of candidates, but also impacts the rights of voters to make their choices known. Below are some of the cases in which the Affiliate has been involved over the years in support of an open and fair electoral process:

Federal lawsuit challenging City Charter provisions that impose increased signature-gathering burdens, above and beyond what state law requires, on candidates who wish to run for local office. The provisions were repealed, and attorneys’ fees were awarded.

Federal lawsuit challenging a state statute that requires a group seeking recognition as a new political party to collect signatures representing 5% of the voter turnout for the previous Gubernatorial election, and bars collections of those signatures in an off- election year. The court ruled the latter provision unconstitutional, and awarded attorneys’ fees.

Federal lawsuit challenging the disqualification of a Mayoral candidate based on a city charter provision barring voters from signing more than one nomination paper for the same political office. The court ruled the provision unconstitutional, and the General Assembly enacted a law overriding similar requirements in other municipalities.

Federal lawsuit challenging a town’s actions in repeatedly removing a political candidate’s signs from private property. The court ruled unconstitutional the statute under which the actions were purportedly taken, and the defendants thereafter agreed to an award of damages and attorneys’ fees.

Lawsuit challenging the legality of a September run-off “preliminary election” for non-partisan at-large school committee seats in Lincoln to be decided in November. A consent judgment was entered, formally declaring null and void both the “preliminary” election results and the town ordinance authorizing this election procedure.